Long-time Lacombe resident Jason Lunn has been named Citizen of the Year and will be presented with his award at the 2019 Business and Community Awards Gala on Oct. 26.
Lunn — who co-owns D&M Concrete Products along with his brother Gregg — serves on several boards and volunteers for many groups in the community including the Lacombe Athletic Park Association (LAPA), the Lacombe Kinsmen Club, the Lacombe Health Trust and Lacombe Minor Football.
Lunn was thankful after he heard he was nominated by two different Lacombe citizens in the community
“It was an honour to hear I was nominated. Of course you won’t find out who nominated you but I thank them for it,” he said.
Giving back to the community is something that was instilled in Lunn and his brother by their father. He has continually donated his time to the community — especially after a tragic collision where he was rear-ended by a semi-truck, which lead to him spending five months in hospital and leading him to require the use of a wheelchair.
“It was huge to have support of family and friends — but also the community,” he said.
The incident led to him donating even more of his time to the Lacombe Health Trust and he is very proud to be part of the group that recently raised money for the new enhanced emergency department which opened earlier this year.
Lunn also is an avid supporter of the Kinsmen Club, where he has been involved in many projects over the course of 25 years.
“I also have received huge support from the Kinsmen Club in Lacombe through my life’s journey,” he said.
Lunn is excited to see the influx of young people who want to give back to their community into the Kinsmen Club.
“We are pretty strong with about 52 members. We have a lot of projects going on,” he sad.
Football — and sports — have always been a part of Lunn’s life, which has led to his avid support of LAPA and Lacombe Minor Football.
“Minor football is close to me – I played, my son played and it is a great sport for the kids in our community along with everything that park provides like soccer, rugby and everything else,” he said.
Lunn hopes that everyone will see the value in supporting their community.
“If you want stuff to happen, you can’t sit back and complain — you need to get active and you can have a voice. Be involved, it doesn’t matter if it is Kinsmen — there is a lot of other service clubs that do great jobs,” he said.
Lunn doesn’t foresee anytime soon when he will not be volunteering his time.
“It is exciting to see the possible LAPA expansion that is on the horizon. We just finished a great big addition at the hospital with the emergency department. I don’t see myself stepping off of the boards any time soon,” he said.
Lunn wanted to thank the community for the award and said it isn’t just an award for him.
“It sounds like it is a single award but really it is a group award. The person who I am is because of the people I surround myself with,” Lunn said.
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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